On December 7, 2010, members of the Ontario Legislature condemned an MA thesis written by Jenny Peto, a recent graduate of the Sociology and Equity Studies program at OISE-UT (Read the Transcript of the Legislature). This unprecedented denunciation of an MA thesis in the legislature comes on the heels of criticism of the thesis by people associated with Israel advocacy organizations, which received coverage in the National Post and the Toronto Star.
Faculty for Palestine is calling for immediate and widespread condemnation of the use of public power to intimidate individual students and faculty members and, ultimately, to regulate what can be said and done in Canadian universities. It is no coincidence that these MPPs are targeting the work of a well-known Palestine solidarity activist who has been outspoken in her support for the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid. These same MPPs have a consistent record of attacking Palestine solidarity activity and defending increased trade relations with Israel. This is a blatantly political attack, and we reject these MPPs’ claim to be motivated by a concern about the scholarly legitimacy of Ms. Peto’s academic work.
Here is the full Faculty for Palestine Statement condemning these recent MPPs attacks.
Call for Action:
Write to Ontario MPPs to register your urgent concern about these recent attacks against Palestine solidarity activist and OISE-University of Toronto Masters graduate, Jenny Peto. You can send letters to leaders of all three parties and the MPPs involved in the attack. Here are some tips:
- Cut, paste and/or modify our Sample Letter.
- Forward the Faculty for Palestine Statement to MPPs, noting your support for it.
- Please cc [email protected] in your email.
MPP email addresses are:
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You may find your MPP’s email address here.